February 15, 2022 - Story and photos by Joshua Ross
For those of us old enough to remember games between the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics of the 80’s, tonight’s girls basketball game between Hingham and Whitman-Hanson was the closest thing you’ll get to those epic battles.
This was the rematch of a game earlier in the season where Hingham hung with one of the top teams in the state for three quarters before Whitman-Hanson pulled away in the 4th. The Harborwomen have circled this game since that loss and came into tonight ready to play. For those who paid the price of admission, the game was worth every penny.
“First time we met, we kind of underestimated them,” head coach Roland Millien said after the game. “They had two of their best players out and we didn’t put the petal to metal right away from the start.”
The first quarter of tonight’s game wasn’t exactly a NASCAR race either. Just like the first game, it was low scoring as each team was getting their bearings. Junior captain Colette Haney scored Hingham’s first 5 points of the game and the quarter end with the Panthers up 12-9. Senior captain Perry Blasetti took over the second quarter after the Panther’s jumped out to a 21-14 lead. Blasetti had 7 of the Harborwomen’s 11 points in the quarter and the team ended the quarter on a 6-0, bringing them within one point at halftime.
Hingham opened the second half with two straight baskets capping off a 10-0 run. As the game progressed, so did the Hingham defense. Almost every shot inside was contested and senior Colleen Johnston had a number of key blocks throughout the second half. Junior Sarah Holler seemed to come down with almost every defensive rebound, rarely giving the Panthers any second chances. Hingham seemed to get the momentum when sophomore Marisa Matthews got two of her own rebounds under the basket then put one in and got the foul complete the three point play. With 1:45 left, Hingham took a 29-23 lead after senior Madison Aylward made a 8 foot jumper from just inside the free throw line. After a three and a couple of baskets by the Panthers and another Aylward jumper, the quarter ended tied at 31.
“Marissa and Maddy have been phenomenal for us all year,” Millien said. “The one thing I want to say is that I’m blessed that I’m going have Marissa for the next two years, but Maddy, honestly, just does everything right. She never goes outside of her element. She is someone who knows her role and she plays her role to a “T.” That’s what you want as a coach. You don’t want someone shooting three’s when normally they don’t do it. She drives to the basket, she defends, and she runs the floor better than anyone I’ve ever coached.”
Even with the exceptional play of some of his players off the bench, this was playing out the same way the first game had gone. Battle hard for three quarters and waiting for Whitman-Hanson to explode on offense, as they typically do. But this game was different. Hingham was ready. They literally and figuratively took the hits and got back up. The Harborwomen matched the Panthers physicality and toughness for the last 8 minutes, led by Blasetti who never stopped driving to the basket and making the big shots when they counted. None bigger than tying up the game at 41 with 1:37 left.
Tied at 43 again, Holler took two pretty hard fouls, making 3 of 4 free throws giving Hingham the 3 point lead. The Panthers with one last chance, took the ball out with under 30 seconds left. Blasetti tipped the pass at top of her own three point line and in the scramble for the loose ball, she took a vicious elbow to the head and laid on the court for a few minutes. She eventually walked off the court with some help and didn’t return to the game. Some how, no foul was called and WH got the ball as the ref called out of bounds on Hingham. With their best player on the sidelines, Hingham did what they did all night, play stifling defense and fought to the very end securing the 46-43 upset.
“I’ve coached about 20 teams in my lifetime, there’s not a group tougher than these group of girls that I’ve coached, not a group tougher,” Millien said proudly after the final buzzer. “We battle in practice and when you battle in practice it’s going to happen in the games. They are comfortable battling in practice, so when the game comes around it’s nothing new to them.”
In addition to his teams toughness, coach liked how his team adjusted from last game.
“This time, we know they (Whitman-Hanson) are a really good team, and we have to play near perfect to beat a team like that. And this time I think they trusted each other, they were talking, they were moving defensively and we rebounded. That’s the biggest thing I can say we did, rebounding. Rebounding has been an Achilles heel at the beginning of the year and they just rebounded like no other today.”
He also made a few adjustments on defense to help them shutdown some of the Panthers opportunities had in the previous meeting.
“It was definitely helter-skelter (in the first game),” explained Millien. “We definitely switch up our defense. I’m not going to tell you what we switched it up into, but we switched up our defense and they were not able to penetrate the same way they did in the first game and I think that really didn’t lead to as many open three’s as they had in the first game. The first game they were able to penetrate, able to kick, have some wide open shot and they were able to knock them down. This time we closed that gap and didn’t allow them to.”
Part of any sport is mental, and Hanney admits last game they got in their own heads, but this game was different.
“I think tonight we came out a lot more prepared,” she said. “We really wanted this win after last time. I think it really got in our heads last time, the loss and we really all came prepared and we wanted this more than them tonight.”
And as far as the physicality went, she said that only fueled them more.
“We were pretty angry with them,” Hanney added. “We were matching their intensity and just kept going hard.”